A local county council member and candidate for sheriff has admitted to allegations lodged against him by a female inmate at the State Correctional Institute at Cambridge Springs.

According to the Erie Times News, County Councilman Brian Shank, Republican candidate for sheriff and current county council member for the 5th District, admitted to striking a female inmate with a ruler on the buttocks, and using code names over the intercom to warn inmates when administrators were in the building.

A lawsuit was later filed against Shank in these cases. According to Shank, the suit was dismissed as it was found “unsubstantiated.”

Shank retired from the state prison in 2016 due to health problems around the same time that the allegations came to light.